It’s getting exciting around here! Tomorrow we expect more than one thousand children, plus their parents, to join us for our first FX. Thanks to all of you who have already registered to help, passed out FX fliers, prayed and contributed all kinds of candy, goods & services. It’s gonna be great! Below is today’s update.
Pray
• That our Lord’s love, joy & grace will fall over our campus on Saturday
• That the skies will be clear on Saturday afternoon/evening
• That our workers will lovingly & genuinely engage all of our participants
• That our e-letter going out to our guests on Saturday night will be well received
• That many of our unchurched guests will join us for services on Sunday morning (Tim will be preaching)
• That the relationships within our church family will sprout, sweeten & be strengthened as we serve together on this ministry project.
• That souls would be saved and that strongholds would be broken during the FAITH FORCE presentations
Needs
• more donations for the Cake Walk - we certainly don’t want to run out!
• another photographer or two
• more vacuum cleaners to speed up the cleanup process
• plenty of clean up help – the last 5+ years we did a great job & were more than 95% complete in less than 45 minutes – YES! Let’s do it again!
• sign board help for the hallways (Saturday afternoon). We use the Preschool's dry erase boards for directions, welcome, etc
Reminders
• If you ordered an FX t-shirt by Monday, we’ll have it labeled & ready for you to pick up in the fellowship hall on Saturday afternoon. We ordered a few extra, so if you don’t have one, contact Amanda Poe (Amanda@apexbaptist.org or 362-6176 x222) to reserve one. First come – first serve.
• If you want to dress up in a non-scary fashion – go for it.
• Please park away from the church campus on Saturday afternoon so we’ll have more room for our guests to park.
• Our final briefing and prayer time for our workers will be at 3:40pm in the fellowship hall.
• We want to be in position & ready to begin by 3:55pm.
• Eat when you can during the evening.
• Rotate in and out of service with your team mates or others who want to spell you
• Around 5:15, we’ll invite the children & parents to go to the Sanctuary for FAITH FORCE. If you can break away to serve as an usher/counselor that would be great. Likewise, we’ll shut all events down at 6:50 and encourage everyone to go to the sanctuary. We’d like our ushers to be in place by 6:40. Both performances will be shown live in the Choir Room.
• After FAITH FORCE, we’re asking each of you to help clean up the area where you served so it is ready for services on Sunday morning. Then please help others clean their areas so we can all go home ASAP.
• Smile all during the FX, especially when your photos are being taken. We’ll post them on our church website on Friday night. You may see yourself on the big screen on Sunday morning, too!
• If you know some others who would like to help, but haven’t “officially” registered, contact me (Chuck@apexbaptist.org or 362-6176 x232 or 602-5677). We’ve got several places to plug folks in to serve.
Friday, October 28, 2011
Monday, October 24, 2011
Thursday, October 20, 2011
FX October 20 Update
FX- biggest & best party in town!
Yes, FX will have all of the elements of the Fun Fests we have had in previous years plus more – more events, more food, more ABC member participation, and more evangelistic outreach. Festivities include: horse riding, the mechanical bull, 4 inflatables, carnival games, a blue grass band, hay ride, cake walk, Limbo, fishing booth, chicken wings, hot dogs, chili, nachos, snow cones, smoothies, lots & lots of candy and MORE! FAITH FORCE will perform at 5:20 and 7pm in the sanctuary. Don’t miss it!
HELP WANTED!
We need help in the following areas:
• Picking up & setting up the halogen lights in the parking lots
• Serving chili, crackers & tea in the Fellowship Hall
• Cooking & serving fried Oreos & candy bars
• Horse clean up after the event
• Grills & help with chicken wings
• More baked goods for the Cake Walk
• More candy donations
• Pumpkin painting help
• Stage cleanup after FAITH FORCE
You can sign up to help online at www.apexbaptist.org/fx or on one of the FX sign up sheets available at the ABC hallway displays
Did you know?
Did you know that Mark Kerr of FAITH FORCE was a 2–Time Drug Free Strongest Man and 5-Time World Powerlifting Champion? Guess what position he played on his high school football team? You may get the answer on the 29th – great & inspiring story! Who are you bringing with you to be entertained, inspired and to hear the Gospel?
Publicity help
Our FX Fliers are available in the hallways as well as online. Hope you’ll use these to help get the word out to your friends, neighbors & businesses.
Let’s pray that …
• our ABC Family will do a great job of publicizing FX
• that our ABC Family would greet & engage guests & each other warmly
• lots more ABC members will sign up to help with the remaining FX needs
• we will pray, pursue & persuade non-believers to see FAITH FORCE
• the weather would be great for FX – we don’t want rain!
• that souls would be saved at FX!
Yes, FX will have all of the elements of the Fun Fests we have had in previous years plus more – more events, more food, more ABC member participation, and more evangelistic outreach. Festivities include: horse riding, the mechanical bull, 4 inflatables, carnival games, a blue grass band, hay ride, cake walk, Limbo, fishing booth, chicken wings, hot dogs, chili, nachos, snow cones, smoothies, lots & lots of candy and MORE! FAITH FORCE will perform at 5:20 and 7pm in the sanctuary. Don’t miss it!
HELP WANTED!
We need help in the following areas:
• Picking up & setting up the halogen lights in the parking lots
• Serving chili, crackers & tea in the Fellowship Hall
• Cooking & serving fried Oreos & candy bars
• Horse clean up after the event
• Grills & help with chicken wings
• More baked goods for the Cake Walk
• More candy donations
• Pumpkin painting help
• Stage cleanup after FAITH FORCE
You can sign up to help online at www.apexbaptist.org/fx or on one of the FX sign up sheets available at the ABC hallway displays
Did you know?
Did you know that Mark Kerr of FAITH FORCE was a 2–Time Drug Free Strongest Man and 5-Time World Powerlifting Champion? Guess what position he played on his high school football team? You may get the answer on the 29th – great & inspiring story! Who are you bringing with you to be entertained, inspired and to hear the Gospel?
Publicity help
Our FX Fliers are available in the hallways as well as online. Hope you’ll use these to help get the word out to your friends, neighbors & businesses.
Let’s pray that …
• our ABC Family will do a great job of publicizing FX
• that our ABC Family would greet & engage guests & each other warmly
• lots more ABC members will sign up to help with the remaining FX needs
• we will pray, pursue & persuade non-believers to see FAITH FORCE
• the weather would be great for FX – we don’t want rain!
• that souls would be saved at FX!
Monday, October 17, 2011
We Arise
Nathan Stam
Children/Communications Pastor
If you missed worship services this past week we had a great time. The kids led us in worship and were fantastic. The worship band and Jesse also shared a song with us called "We Arise." I wanted to share the lyrics with you because they are just plain powerful. The song is by a group called Daylight Worship and you can actually download their album for free on Noisetrade (just leave a tip if you like it!). Here are the lyrics:
Sleeping’s for the night we have seen the sun rise over us
The King has come
Awaken to the day we have had His glory revealed to us
Love has won
We arise for our light has come and the glory of God has risen on us
We arise, Jesus is alive and the power of Christ lifts us up
Tear off all that weighs down
We are called to run now free from sin
Alive again
Children of the light flee the things of darkness and follow Christ
Turn and shine
We arise for our light has come to us
For our God has rescued He has rescued us
We arise Jesus is alive in us
Through His death we’ve overcome We have overcome
For Your blood was poured out
And Your life was given
Through death You conquered
You are the word that was spoken
Children/Communications Pastor
If you missed worship services this past week we had a great time. The kids led us in worship and were fantastic. The worship band and Jesse also shared a song with us called "We Arise." I wanted to share the lyrics with you because they are just plain powerful. The song is by a group called Daylight Worship and you can actually download their album for free on Noisetrade (just leave a tip if you like it!). Here are the lyrics:
Sleeping’s for the night we have seen the sun rise over us
The King has come
Awaken to the day we have had His glory revealed to us
Love has won
We arise for our light has come and the glory of God has risen on us
We arise, Jesus is alive and the power of Christ lifts us up
Tear off all that weighs down
We are called to run now free from sin
Alive again
Children of the light flee the things of darkness and follow Christ
Turn and shine
We arise for our light has come to us
For our God has rescued He has rescued us
We arise Jesus is alive in us
Through His death we’ve overcome We have overcome
For Your blood was poured out
And Your life was given
Through death You conquered
You are the word that was spoken
Friday, October 14, 2011
FX October 14 Update
So what is FX again?
Yes, FX will have all of the elements of the Fun Fests we have had in previous years, but we’re adding extra emphasis on ABC member involvement & evangelistic outreach. There will be food, fun, fellowship & games galore for everyone. Additionally, we’ll have Bluegrass music provided by Fairview Grass and two special programs by the FAITH FORCE power team. Through serving & being served there’s plenty of good stuff for your whole family to experience!
Have you signed up yet?
We’ve had several Life Groups sign up to help with events like: the “Dot Room”,
the “Limbo Room”, fried candy bars, and registration. We’ve also had several individuals sign up to help with various events. How about you? Remember that we want lots of folks to help so that we can minimize the burdens, maximize the blessings and have a lot of fun along the way. The sooner you sign up, the sooner we’ll be able to work out schedules. Sign up sheets are available in the church hallways and at www.apexbaptist.org/fx. Register by Sunday, October 16 and get your free FX t-shirt!
Want to know more about FAITH FORCE?
Check out www.faithforce.com to see learn about some of the feats of strength these men perform, about their ministry and the stories behind the men – good reading! FAITH FORCE will perform at 5:20 and 7pm in our sanctuary. Who are you bringing with you to be entertained, inspired and to hear the Gospel?
Publicity help
Our FX Fliers should be ready by the weekend. We’ll have a version that you can email to your friends & neighborhood groups, too. The best publicity however is word of mouth. Let’s get the word out!
Other help needed
We need Life Groups or groups of individuals to help with pumpkin painting, stage set up, take down & ushering for FAITH FORCE. We need lots more CANDY to give away, too!
Let’s pray that …
• our ABC Family will do a great job of publicizing FX
• our folks will sign up promptly to help with FX
• we will pray, pursue & persuade non-believers to see FAITH FORCE
• the weather would be great for FX
• that souls would be saved at FX!
Yes, FX will have all of the elements of the Fun Fests we have had in previous years, but we’re adding extra emphasis on ABC member involvement & evangelistic outreach. There will be food, fun, fellowship & games galore for everyone. Additionally, we’ll have Bluegrass music provided by Fairview Grass and two special programs by the FAITH FORCE power team. Through serving & being served there’s plenty of good stuff for your whole family to experience!
Have you signed up yet?
We’ve had several Life Groups sign up to help with events like: the “Dot Room”,
the “Limbo Room”, fried candy bars, and registration. We’ve also had several individuals sign up to help with various events. How about you? Remember that we want lots of folks to help so that we can minimize the burdens, maximize the blessings and have a lot of fun along the way. The sooner you sign up, the sooner we’ll be able to work out schedules. Sign up sheets are available in the church hallways and at www.apexbaptist.org/fx. Register by Sunday, October 16 and get your free FX t-shirt!
Want to know more about FAITH FORCE?
Check out www.faithforce.com to see learn about some of the feats of strength these men perform, about their ministry and the stories behind the men – good reading! FAITH FORCE will perform at 5:20 and 7pm in our sanctuary. Who are you bringing with you to be entertained, inspired and to hear the Gospel?
Publicity help
Our FX Fliers should be ready by the weekend. We’ll have a version that you can email to your friends & neighborhood groups, too. The best publicity however is word of mouth. Let’s get the word out!
Other help needed
We need Life Groups or groups of individuals to help with pumpkin painting, stage set up, take down & ushering for FAITH FORCE. We need lots more CANDY to give away, too!
Let’s pray that …
• our ABC Family will do a great job of publicizing FX
• our folks will sign up promptly to help with FX
• we will pray, pursue & persuade non-believers to see FAITH FORCE
• the weather would be great for FX
• that souls would be saved at FX!
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Why FX on October 29th
So, after twenty plus years of the Harvest Fest at ABC followed by the Fun Fest all happening on October 31, what is going on with FX (ABC Family Experience), and why are we having it on Saturday, October 29?
Those are great questions and we'd like to take a moment to answer them briefly:
FX is basically the same thing as Fun Fest, except a whole lot bigger, a whole lot Funner, and is much more INTENTIONAL in sharing the Gospel with our community. We'll have more details on the schedule soon, but one of the highlights is Faith Force coming to do two shows--one during FX and a 7:00 show following FX in the ABC Sanctuary. Faith Force is all about the Gospel and we're excited as to what God is going to do through their presentation.
But what about October 31? I thought the whole point of having a "Fun Fest" was to provide a safe alternative for parents to bring their kids, instead of being surrounded by a culture that celebrates death and darkness?
Dr. George Robinson, from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, wrote an interesting blog on this subject entitled provocatively, "Why All Good Christians Should Celebrate Halloween." (He said what?!)
We'd like to share a few quotes here from Dr. Robinson's blog in regard to Halloween and our calling as believers in Jesus Christ.
Those are great questions and we'd like to take a moment to answer them briefly:
FX is basically the same thing as Fun Fest, except a whole lot bigger, a whole lot Funner, and is much more INTENTIONAL in sharing the Gospel with our community. We'll have more details on the schedule soon, but one of the highlights is Faith Force coming to do two shows--one during FX and a 7:00 show following FX in the ABC Sanctuary. Faith Force is all about the Gospel and we're excited as to what God is going to do through their presentation.
But what about October 31? I thought the whole point of having a "Fun Fest" was to provide a safe alternative for parents to bring their kids, instead of being surrounded by a culture that celebrates death and darkness?
Dr. George Robinson, from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, wrote an interesting blog on this subject entitled provocatively, "Why All Good Christians Should Celebrate Halloween." (He said what?!)
We'd like to share a few quotes here from Dr. Robinson's blog in regard to Halloween and our calling as believers in Jesus Christ.
"Ironically, most good Christians that I know won’t be celebrating either Reformation Day or Halloween. Instead, they will be showing support for their local church by attending a “safe and sanitary” alternative called a Fall Festival. This alternative allows good Christians to invite their neighbors and friends to come to the church and get candy, play games and have some good, clean Christian fun. No pagan witches and goblins allowed. But they can dress up as David or Moses or some other biblical character. All the fun without the pagan revelry, right?"This is exactly what we've done with the Harvest Festival and the Fun Fest the past few decades. But Dr. Robinson continues:
"I would like to propose another alternative – that good Christians should indeed celebrate Halloween. I think that they should stay home from their church’s alternative Fall Festival and celebrate with their pagan neighbors. Most of them wouldn’t have come to your Fall Festival anyway. And those who did would’ve stopped by briefly on their way to “real” trick-or-treating. I’m sure that some of you reading this blog might be more than a little unhappy with my proposal at this point, but stick with me for a moment: The reason I propose that good Christians celebrate Halloween and stay home from the “Christian alternatives” is that Halloween is the only night of the year in our culture where lost people actually go door-to-door to saved people’s homes -- and you’re down at the church hanging out with all your other good Christian friends having clean fellowship with the non-pagans."Ouch! We leave our homes the one night of the year that our unbelieving neighbors drop by our house?
"Living with missional intentionality means that you approach life as a missionary in your context. I lived with my family in South Asia and we had to be creative and intentional in engaging our Muslim neighbors. We now live in the USA and we still need to be creative and intentional. That’s why for the past 2 years we have chosen to stay at home and celebrate the fact that Halloween gives us a unique opportunity to engage our neighbors. In fact, last year we had over 300 children and 200 adults come to our doorstep on that one night. And we were ready for them!"So, what are some practical ideas of how we can be intentional on Halloween?
"We had a tent set up in the driveway and gave away free coffee and water to the adults who were walking with their children. Our small group members manned the tent and engaged them in conversation and gave each one of them a gospel booklet (“The Story” gospel booklets are available with a Halloween distribution rate here: http://story4.us/offer). The children ran up to our door while the parents were waiting and got their candy, along with gospel booklets (even if they were dressed as witches or goblins!). In all we gave away more than 500 pieces of literature that night, each with our name, e-mail address, and a website where they could get more info."How about it?! Let's be intentional with the Gospel on October 31 and see what God does!
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
FX (Family Experience)
FX (Family Experience) is coming on Saturday, October 29 and we'll be using the blog to keep you updated on what is going on in the FX camp these next few weeks! Here's the first update!
FX Sign-ups Have Begun
We want everyone to “get in the game” and be a part of FX – that way we’ll maximize the blessings, minimize the burdens and have a lot of fun along the way! Sign-up sheets are available on tables near the sanctuary, at the welcome center and online at www.apexbaptist.org/fx. You can serve as life groups, families, or individuals. We’ll try to have a point person at each station to help schedule the team’s workers. In these weekly updates we’ll inform you of other areas to serve as they arise (BTW, we’ll need several ushers for the Faith Force programs).
NEW FOR 2011
* YES!! This year we’re glad to have FAITH FORCE (see below) with us for two programs
* YEEHAAH!! Fairview Grass, (Billy Powell & his blue grass buddies) will be “pickin’ & grinning” with us
* YIDDIE UP!! We’ll have horse rides in the rear lot
* Praise YAHWEH!! Bible Bee Students will dazzle & inspire us with their scripture memorization
* YIPPEE!! The Apex Police will have a 911 Simulation for the kiddies
FAITH FORCE
We’ve been friends with the FAITH FORCE power team since Metamorphosis 2003, and three team members will do two programs during FX. In addition to having incredibly strong physical bodies, they have wonderfully tender hearts. They just got back last week from a 10 day trip in Russia where they saw our Lord work sweetly & powerfully. These guys will do a great job of entertaining, inspiring and clearly communicating the Gospel. You don’t want to miss! The first program will be around 5:30 and the second (longer one) will be at 7. Yes, you’ll be able to view the program in the sanctuary or on the big screen in the fellowship hall. (We’ll aim to close all of the FX activities down just prior to 7).
Pray, Pursue, Persuade
Do all of your friends, family members, neighbors, co-workers and classmates know Jesus as Lord? Probably not. Today, begin to pray for these by name that God would stir in their hearts. Next, look for opportunities to “bring up” Jesus and pursue them with the truths of Christ in conversation. Ultimately, you want to persuade them to come to Christ. Persuading them to come to FX and to see the Faith Force Team can play a big part in them coming to Christ! Your guests may even get saved on Saturday night! What an FX experience that would be!
Pray…
* That our many wanted & needed workers will sign up promptly
* That our ABC Family would do a good job of praying, pursuing and persuading in these next 24 days
* That our workers will lovingly & genuinely engage all of our participants & guests
* That our Lord’s love, joy & grace will fall over our campus on that Saturday evening
* That many of our unchurched guests will join us for services on the following Sunday morning
* That souls would be saved on Saturday night and Sunday morning
* That the relationships within our church family will sprout, sweeten & be strengthened as we serve together through this ministry project.
Also
* Sign up to serve by October 16th, and we’ll get you a free FX t-shirt! You also may wear your Fun Fest t shirt from a previous year or dress up in some non- scary fashion.
* Supper (hot dogs & chili) for our workers will be at 3pm in the fellowship hall.
* Our final briefing & prayer will be at 3:30pm in the fellowship hall
* We want to be in position & ready to begin by 3:50
* We’ll have a FAMILY EXPERIENCE Flier attachment for you to forward to your friends & neighbors next week. We’ll have hard copies, too. Remind everyone that it’s all FREE!
* Remember that helping at our Fun Fest is a great way to meet a lot more folks in our ABC family.
FX Sign-ups Have Begun
We want everyone to “get in the game” and be a part of FX – that way we’ll maximize the blessings, minimize the burdens and have a lot of fun along the way! Sign-up sheets are available on tables near the sanctuary, at the welcome center and online at www.apexbaptist.org/fx. You can serve as life groups, families, or individuals. We’ll try to have a point person at each station to help schedule the team’s workers. In these weekly updates we’ll inform you of other areas to serve as they arise (BTW, we’ll need several ushers for the Faith Force programs).
NEW FOR 2011
* YES!! This year we’re glad to have FAITH FORCE (see below) with us for two programs
* YEEHAAH!! Fairview Grass, (Billy Powell & his blue grass buddies) will be “pickin’ & grinning” with us
* YIDDIE UP!! We’ll have horse rides in the rear lot
* Praise YAHWEH!! Bible Bee Students will dazzle & inspire us with their scripture memorization
* YIPPEE!! The Apex Police will have a 911 Simulation for the kiddies
FAITH FORCE
We’ve been friends with the FAITH FORCE power team since Metamorphosis 2003, and three team members will do two programs during FX. In addition to having incredibly strong physical bodies, they have wonderfully tender hearts. They just got back last week from a 10 day trip in Russia where they saw our Lord work sweetly & powerfully. These guys will do a great job of entertaining, inspiring and clearly communicating the Gospel. You don’t want to miss! The first program will be around 5:30 and the second (longer one) will be at 7. Yes, you’ll be able to view the program in the sanctuary or on the big screen in the fellowship hall. (We’ll aim to close all of the FX activities down just prior to 7).
Pray, Pursue, Persuade
Do all of your friends, family members, neighbors, co-workers and classmates know Jesus as Lord? Probably not. Today, begin to pray for these by name that God would stir in their hearts. Next, look for opportunities to “bring up” Jesus and pursue them with the truths of Christ in conversation. Ultimately, you want to persuade them to come to Christ. Persuading them to come to FX and to see the Faith Force Team can play a big part in them coming to Christ! Your guests may even get saved on Saturday night! What an FX experience that would be!
Pray…
* That our many wanted & needed workers will sign up promptly
* That our ABC Family would do a good job of praying, pursuing and persuading in these next 24 days
* That our workers will lovingly & genuinely engage all of our participants & guests
* That our Lord’s love, joy & grace will fall over our campus on that Saturday evening
* That many of our unchurched guests will join us for services on the following Sunday morning
* That souls would be saved on Saturday night and Sunday morning
* That the relationships within our church family will sprout, sweeten & be strengthened as we serve together through this ministry project.
Also
* Sign up to serve by October 16th, and we’ll get you a free FX t-shirt! You also may wear your Fun Fest t shirt from a previous year or dress up in some non- scary fashion.
* Supper (hot dogs & chili) for our workers will be at 3pm in the fellowship hall.
* Our final briefing & prayer will be at 3:30pm in the fellowship hall
* We want to be in position & ready to begin by 3:50
* We’ll have a FAMILY EXPERIENCE Flier attachment for you to forward to your friends & neighbors next week. We’ll have hard copies, too. Remind everyone that it’s all FREE!
* Remember that helping at our Fun Fest is a great way to meet a lot more folks in our ABC family.
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